Valorant has a new cinematic called “Duality” and it is jam-packed full of action and lore for interested fans. Released during the Valorant Champions Tour Masters 2 Grand Finals, Riot Games is teasing something akin to a multi-verse on the scale of the Avengers or Spider-Man. Below is a link to take a look at the beautifully crafted cinematic:
Radianite – The Ultimate Resource
It was teased in previous trailers that Radianite is a substance that is integral to the lore of Valorant in numerous ways. This cinematic revealed the role of Radianite; Kingdom is a company that produces 75% of the world’s energy and uses Radianite as the source of that business. In the trailer for Breeze, a factory could be seen above ground while crates of Radianite sat in a laboratory underground, which could be part of Kingdom’s production line.
In addition, Radianite has the power to grant certain individuals special powers, such as Phoenix with his ability to manipulate fire or Jett with her mystical telepathy to make blades float. Radianite can also act as the fuel for unstable bombs, as we can see from Valorant gameplay and past cinematics. In this situation, Killjoy is tasked with diffusing the spike after it had been planted on Bind. During the diffuse, objects around her, Phoenix, and Viper start levitating due to an unstable gravitational environment created by the Radianite absorbing spike.
Twice the worlds, twice the fun!
The largest takeaway from the Valorant cinematic is the iconic scene where Phoenix apprehends…Phoenix? The ‘good guy’ Phoenix with Killjoy and Viper stands dumbfounded as he stares at his doppelganger, who only smiles in return.
As confusing as this situation is, it gets muddier with the splitting of Earth at the end of the cinematic, suggesting to viewers that there are two sets of Valorant ‘radiants’ (a term used to describe those affected by Radianite and given special powers).
The origins of the second world are not fully known, but we can be sure that Radianite is the end goal of all these agents. The spike was a device used to absorb Radianite and then detonate, completely destroying the balance of everything within a certain radius of the bomb. Based on this bit of knowledge, it is clear that one side of agents is aiming to destroy one of the worlds by using the energy-consuming explosive while the other side of agents is trying to save the world being targeted. This lore fits perfectly with the actual gameplay of Valorant, where agents are locked in a battle to plant or diffuse the spike, with team compositions sometimes containing the same agents. It is a novel adaptation to the standard terrorist vs counter-terrorist format that CS:GO players have been accustomed to.
As of now, we do not know the endgame for either side’s Valorant agents, nor do we even know if there is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ world. After all, whether someone is a villain or hero completely depends on the perspective of the onlooker. So, which Earth are you going to fight for?
